Thin

In the USA, today, it is estimated that there are close to 5 million adults (most of them young and most of them females) who are dealing, in one way or another, with a serious eating disorder, particularly that of anorexia. It is also noted that (due to this illness) many have literally starved themselves to death.

If you happen to be a hearty eater and have no problem about putting on a few extra pounds, then you may find it somewhat difficult to relate to the eating disorders that plague these women (whose ages ranged from 15 to 30) in this documentary. But, all the same, these eating disorders are very real and clearly pose a threat to the health (both physical and mental) of many, many people, the world over.

Personally, I found "Thin" to be such a depressing experience as I watched these women face their eating disorders on a day-to-day basis that, before long, I began to feel somewhat uncomfortable about being witness to their distress, their frustrations and their tears.

Please, don't get me wrong here - I don't, in any way, belittle or undermine the grave seriousness of eating disorders, but (being an outsider to this dysfunctional behaviour), in the end, I could only rank this documentary with an "average", 2.5-star rating.

One of the best documentaries of last year. If you know anyone who has an eating disorder, then this film will give you a clear insight into their behavior, and also into treatment facilities, and why they fail.

I am so against the behavior-based practices of facilities like the one depicted in this movie. They are so about rules and really do not get into the whys. You will leave this film at the end not having any more understanding of why someone would exist on 200 calories a day, than you did in the beginning.

It is no wonder that most go back to their behaviors when they leave. No one addressed the inner demons. It is all "Just Say NO," and we know how that works on the drug problem or keeping teens from having sex.

You can't help feeling sorry for these girls. You know they are destined to continue in their hell.

Thank you, Lauren Greenfield, for introducing us to them.

This documentary follows a group of girls in a private hospital in Florida for treatment for anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders. The timing is only ever going to more relevant with coming time I think because weight is an increasing issue. I know the media does exaggerate for the sake of stories but we do either seem to be a society of obesity or undereating. Watching America's Next Top Model and shows of the ilk you regularly hear "too big" or worse from the judges in relation to girls who are very trim by modern standards. Meanwhile "size zero" is the thing of nightmares for those concerned about the women who feel forced to be thinner and thinner. All this against the background of the very public death of model Reston (40kg at age 21) from an infection after her system was weakened by the effects of anorexia.

So with all this in mind I was quite looking forward to this film because I hoped that it would be worthy of the subject – which is important and depressing. The film goes behind the scenes at a treatment centre in South Florida and follows the patients and doctors through counselling sessions, weighing, community sessions and just hanging out. The degree of access is impressive and the subjects don't seem to be affected at all by having a camera around them all the time. It is a shame then that the film doesn't deliver a point or a well constructed case but it doesn't really manage to do this. The "fly on the wall" approach does provide value as the lives of the girls do make for an engaging documentary but I couldn't help but feel that the film should be using the girls to access a bigger point rather than being about the dramas within the treatment centre alone.

This is best seen in the final third, which seems to be mostly about Polly and her friends being confronted by the staff over their behaviour and attitudes; this made it more of a soap opera than anything else and, although interesting, it was not what I had hoped the film would be. Greenfield's direction is very good, providing lots of intimate shots without ever getting in the way of the people or the treatment. She does turn out a film that is engaging and touching at turns but I didn't think that it did much to my understanding of the conditions. For viewers who dismiss it as "all in the head" and a western disease for fashion obsessed girls, there isn't much here to educate otherwise.

Overall then this is a weakness to the film because it doesn't deal with the subject but rather the specific people in the centre. This means it is not as good or as important as it should have been an, although it is of some interest, it is certainly not the film that I had hoped it would be.

If you're someone who has (or suspects you have) an eating disorder, then I would certainly recommend that you give "Thin" a serious view.

This documentary certainly does open one's eye to how really critical this problem is in the USA, alone. It's estimated that eating disorders affect millions (especially teen-aged girls) all across the American nation, and beyond.

The one thing that I found to be on the somewhat ironic side of "Thin" was that a number of the employees (both men and women) who worked at the Renfrew Center (where a good portion of this documentary was filmed) were, indeed, grossly overweight. This, in turn, showed yet another form of eating disorder and greatly contrasted the super-thin look of the patients who were in residence there.

All-in-all - I found a good part of this documentary to be on the depressing side, and so, in the long run, I wasn't able to fully appreciate the grave message that it was trying to deliver.

It's an eye opening look into the in-patient care of women facing ED. I don't think the psychology tactics of the staff aged well, specifically when staff called 3 patients in together to tattle on each other and then called 2 of them back in together to give more details (felt more Mean Girls than professional help). It's easy for the viewer to connect emotionally with each of the women. By the end I was in tears for each one of them. I just wish ED docs shed light on why some people get ED. There's a wide range of reasons that extend beyond just wanting to be "thin".